The Survivors of the Chancellor(大臣号遇难者)
Jules Verne
Chapter 1
CHARLESTON, SEPTEMBER 27th, 1869.—It is high tide, and three
o'clock in the afternoon when we leave the Battery-quay; the ebb
carries us off shore, and as Captain Huntly has hoisted both main
and top sails, the northerly breeze drives the "Chancellor" briskly
across the bay. Fort Sumter ere long is doubled, the sweeping
batteries of the mainland on our left are soon passed, and by four
o'clock the rapid current of the ebbing tide has carried us through
the harbour-mouth.
But as yet we have not reached the open sea; we have still to
thread our way through the narrow channels which the surge has
hollowed out amongst the sand-banks. The captain takes a south-west
course, rounding the lighthouse at the corner of the fort; the
sails are closely trimmed; the last sandy point is safely…